A Walk In The Woods
by DaronwyK
Summary: Hermione takes a walk through the Dark Forest at night, with a body, and a bemused Death Eater. Dark!Hermione. One Shot. Continued in 'After the Woods'


A/N: One shot in response to a meme inspired plot bunny. Canon compliant up to the trio's escape from the café in DH, diverges rapidly from there.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, just the strange twisted ideas in my mind.

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It had been easy enough. An anonymous note to Dolores about meeting to reveal the secret location of Harry Potter. She'd known the woman wouldn't be able to resist the allure of being the one to grant the Dark Lord his deepest, darkest wish. She arrived hours in advance, hiding under disillusionment charms. At the appointed time, a flash of pink appeared and the toad woman stepped into the clearing…her little beady eyes darting around.

Hermione stepped out, walking into a spill of moonlight. "Hello Dolores." She said.

"YOU." The woman hissed, going for her wand only to find herself in a full body bind, hitting the ground.

"Yes, me. Little, worthless, mudblood me." She said, brown eyes dark with suppressed rage. "You really were stupid to come here alone Dolores, so predictably ambitious. I seriously wonder if you possess any guile at all." She picked up Dolores' wand and moved back. "I'd love to chat…but I simply haven't the time. If I don't return soon Harry will need to move on without me, and I would hate to miss our rendezvous." She looked down at the helpless witch and felt nothing but disgust. This woman had rounded up hundreds of innocent muggleborn witches and wizards and treated them worse than scum. She hated her. "Avada Kedavra." She cast, and green light illuminated the clearing. Dolores Umbridge was no more.

Hermione felt bile in the back of her throat and she turned, retching. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and then snapped the dead witch's wand in half and left it where it fell. She cast a simple levicorpus, and started moving out of the clearing, intending to leave the body deep in the dark forest where the more predatory creatures would find it. With luck there would be no trace of the evil witch in a week's time. As she moved deeper into the woods, she felt the tension leech from her shoulders. She'd actually done it. The evil bitch was no more. The woods were still tonight, as if they understood not to cross the witch currently passing deeper into its depths.

The sudden sound of clapping made her spin, wand at the ready.

"I never thought you had it in you girl." A voice drawled from just behind her. "Put it down, if I wanted you dead I had lots of time." The tall blonde figure of Thorfinn Rowle pushed himself away from a tree, and circle to her right. "Never liked that stuck up bitch myself, but I didn't figure you for having the stones to kill her yourself."

"There's a lot you don't know about me." She said warily, tracking him as he moved around the clearing.

"I know you're a dab hand at memory charms." He said and stopped, looking at the petite witch speculatively. She was a pretty little thing, it was a shame she was a mudblood. Though, unlike some of his compatriots he did think they had their uses. "Like the ones you did on me and Antonin…and the one you did on your parents." He grinned darkly.

Hermione paled. "What did you do to them!" Her blood turned to ice in her veins and she gripped her want tightly.

"Nothing…yet. Australia is a long way off after all, but I know where they are little witch." He smirked, advancing on her.

"Leave them alone…please." She felt tears rising in her eyes.

"Maybe I will, in exchange for something." He said, pausing a few feet away from her. "Question is, little witch, what are you willing to give up for their lives?" He asked her quietly.

Hermione lowered her wand, shaking now as she shook her head. "I can't give you Harry." She shook her head, tears falling down her cheeks.

He reached out, and used his thumb to wipe the tears away. "Sure you can…they're your parents. Your blood. There is nothing more important in this world than blood, little witch. You know that." The Dark Lord had guessed that a member of the Order had contacted Umbridge, and he'd been quite willing to sacrifice her in order to get their hands on someone important to the resistance. He'd been given full powers to negotiate or torture, to get Potter's location. "Just tell me girl, no one ever needs to know it was you." He gently slipped her wand from her hand.

"I can't…please…anything else. I *can't*." She protested, falling to her knees in the leaf litter, collapsing forward onto her hands.

"Shhh…it's just a few words little witch, nothing so terrible." He knelt down on one knee and stroked a hand over her hair. "Tell me, and I'll take you somewhere safe, and no one will ever know that you betrayed him. I'll keep you safe." His voice was soft, like he was talking to a frightened animal. "No more running, no more fear, no more cold nights alone wondering if you'll be found, it'll all be over at last." He tipped her chin up. "I don't want to hurt you little witch, just tell me where he is." His blue eyes willed her to comply. He used his thumbs to wipe her tears away.

"The Forest of Dean." She whispered, and dropped her head down, sobbing as though her heart was broken.

"For how much longer?" He asked her.

"An hour…then they move on." She whispered.

"Take my hand girl." He offered it, relieved when she reached out and slipped her hand into his. He concentrated and apparated them away from the forest and the hideously pink corpse of Dolores Umbridge. They popped through in front of a little stone cottage with a thatched roof. He looked down at the girl, seeing that she was in the early stages of shock. She didn't put up a fight as he took her up the gravel walkway and inside the cottage, sitting her in a chair near the fireplace.

"Stay there." He ordered her, and turned to the fireplace. He threw in a bit of floo powder and stuck his head in. "Potter is in the Forest of Dean, you have less than an hour. The Order contact gave him up."

Bellatrix grinned darkly. "And the contact?"

"Dealt with." He said simply. "Umbridge is dead as well." He would let them assume that he'd killed the member of the order. It was cleaner that way.

"Will you join the raid?" Bellatrix was already organizing the death eaters and had summoned their lord.

"I have injuries to tend to. I await our Lord's victory." He said.

"It is assured." She answered.

He withdrew his head from the flames and turned to the witch sitting in his chair. He put a kettle on to boil and grabbed a warm fleece blanket to wrap around her slender form. "You didn't have a choice…there's no use dwelling on it. It'll be over soon." He said, meeting her eyes.

"I did have a choice. I betrayed my friends." She protested, shaking her head wildly. She could feel the panic grip her and then he shook her hard, fingers digging into her upper arms.

"No. You have no choice. You could have fought, and I'd have disabled you. You could have tried to resist telling me, and I'd have tortured you and you'd have broken. You had no choice, but tell me what I wanted to know. Do you understand me?" He held her gaze until she nodded, and then he released her.

"Why didn't you just turn me over to them?" She asked, her eyes haunted by the horror of what she had done.

"Because, little witch, you're more interesting alive." He grinned darkly, having so many plans for the little witch. His own secret weapon.


End file.
